Skinny Love
by fiction-solar-system
Summary: "He walked back across the green, where Will Solace was waiting." The son of Apollo, while stubborn and insufferable, has a way of making Nico's anxiety melt away. He's happy in Will's company, and its a good thing too, considering he agreed to stay at the camp for the whole year. Will Solace included.


**[A.N] Aye! My name is Kat and this is my first Heroes of Olympus fanfiction. Solangelo is my OTP, and Rick left a lot of plot holes open, so I thought I could make my own version of what happened after the end of BoO, those three days in the infirmary and everything afterwards. Thanks for reading, and please leave constructive criticism to help me in future chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Heroes of Olympus or any of the characters. If I did, Solangelo wouldn't just be implied tbh.**

**On with the show, then.**

Then he walked back across the green, where Will Solace was waiting.

Nico felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, but Percy stuttering like an idiot didn't help to calm his nerves. Of course there was a bit of truth to the age-old saying "the truth will set you free", but Nico was mainly nervous of what the aftermath would be like. He hadn't stuck around long enough to see Percy's full reaction.

How long would it take him to completely process the information? He knew that it would definitely be a shock, but different people had different views on homosexuality. Would Percy avoid him from that point on, just because he had a negative point of view on gay people?

Nico had so many questions on how he would handle the situation, but continued onto Will Solace, who was waiting in front of the infirmary. His anxiety melted away.

The blonde boy was waiting with his eyebrows raised and his arms crossed, looking expectantly at Nico as if he could've walked much faster. Nico picked up his pace and stopped in front of the door. Will gently ushered him inside.

Warm light fell in through the billowing curtains. The room was filled to the brim with wounded campers, lying down on cots that were sectioned off with curtains. Some lounged on extra chairs, and some just sat on the floor. Apollo kids flitted around, applying creams, giving medicines, and wrapping in bandages hurriedly. Everyone was bruised or bleeding, and some were even unconscious on the cots.

But the people who were still awake were laughing and joking to each other. The sight was uplifting. That was nice considering Nico would be in there for three days. He recalled all of the stuttering of the conversation, the snap of Will's tone as he rendered the son of Hades speechless, and the way that his willpower had melted away at the words "doctor's orders".

What was that about? He was usually so firm with people. The way he had responded to Will wasn't something he had experienced before. How he had been feeling and what he had been thinking during the talk was all hazy.

Will touched a warm hand to Nico's back, steering him around other campers and to a cot in the back corner. Nico instantly recoiled from his touch, but decided not to pull away. He didn't want to be rude.

Also, Will's touch was pleasantly warm, which made since, considering he was a son of Apollo.

Will sat him down on the edge of the cot and studied him closely. Will pressed the back of his hand to Nico's forehead and frowned. Nico shifted uncomfortably under Will's touch.

Will to Nico's hands and rolled his eyes as the son of Hades tugged it back. He held on firmly.

Nico's hand felt soft, but in an unnatural way, like he could mold it like clay, or his fingers could leave an indentation.

"You're unnaturally cold," Will speculated, frowing.

"I'm always like that," Nico argued.

"Your body and soul are still a little unstable."

"Sounds normal."

Will scowled and turned around to a cupboard behind him. He plucked out a few different bottles and set them on the counter. Will bent down and grabbed a small cup from the bottom cupboard, then took out a ring of measuring spoons.

He scooped out different portions of the different liquids and stirred them all together. It slowly morphed into a crimson liquid, which he swiveled around to place in Nico's hands.

"Drink that, and I'll be back in a moment." Nico nodded and Will scurried off to attend to other patients. Nico had noticed the slump in his posture and the subtle dark circles under his eyes. It was evident that he had been working himself to the bone.

Could he really have wanted to see Nico on those long days of work? He had called him a friendly face, but the words didn't seem to make sense in Nico's mind. He was anything but a friendly face to most, seeing as how most of the campers had just pushed him away.

At first they had been kind and welcoming after helping win the war against Kronos because he had been a big part in their victory, but that had ceased quickly after a few days.

So why was will any different? He wasn't like any of the Argo II crew, or Reyna and Coach Hedge. He didn't know much about Nico at all, so why he would consider Nico as a friend, or simply a friendly face, was a complete mystery.

He tried not to dwell on it too much. He had much more important things to worry about.

Nico eyed the small cup, gently sloshing around the liquid. He hesitantly poured it into his mouth, and he had to gulp down the urge to gag. It was bitter and burned like firewater. He forcibly gulped it down and had to catch his breath. As much as the drink burned in his stomach, a bit of his sapped energy slowly returned. He was still considerably tired, yet the medicine had replenished the strength he need to do simple things.

He looked around, and was happy to find that Will was very preoccupied with a visibly pained camper. Nico raised his hand in front of his face and concentrated. He concentrated on the darkness, the shadows inside, something only a child of Hades or Pluto had.

He was delighted to see tendrils of darkness forming on his hand, twisting around each other like serpents. He kept it going, but the small shadows started to fade as he felt his strength slowly diminishing.

"Hey!" yelled someone from across the room, shattering Nico's concentration and causing the darkness in his palm to flicker out. He sighed, disgruntled.

Will Solace stormed over to him, his tanned face scowling. "I said no Underworld-y stuff! Why won't you listen? I just want you to get better, but noooo! You insist on ignoring me, when I just want you to get better! You are so difficult sometimes!" Will groaned, and put his hand on Nico's forehead again. It nearly went through him, as if he was a shadow.

Will quickly whipped up the medicine again, and thrust it into Nico's hands.

"You know this stuff tastes terrible," Nico pointed out. Will sighed, clearly exasperated.

"I know, and at the moment, I don't care. Just drink it, and then rest a bit." Will narrowed his bright blue eyes. "And no more shadow conjuring or skeleton summoning, or I will _let you_ melt into a puddle of darkness."

Nico drank the dark red medicine, cringing as he did.

"You know you wouldn't let me. I'm your 'friend', remember?" Nico taunted.

Will scoffed. "Shut up, di Angelo." And with that, Will smacked him upside the head lightly, and walked away, muttering about how insufferable the boy was. Nico pressed his lips into a smirk and lied back on his cot.

He peered out the window. The sun was already setting behind the horizon, casting an orange glow over the water and the camp.

This was his new home, for as long as he would be there. He didn't have a plan for the future, but right then, Camp Half Blood was his future.

Will Solace included.


End file.
